Last week's episodes saw Kim briefly return to Home Farm and she certainly fitted an awful lot in – murder, threats, hilarious insults and a bonkers balcony fall. Some characters don't have that much action in a year.

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As we eagerly await Kim's full-time return, here's a look at the big storylines that the writers have skilfully already set up for her in 2019.

1. The return of James Tate

ITV

Kim's brief return to Home Farm was camp, catty and pretty chaotic. Fortunately, just when we were starting to wonder if it was all a bit *too* panto, the show helpfully reminded us that she does have a heart in there somewhere. Although Dr Cavanagh might want to double-check, just to be on the safe side.

Before Kim was carted off back to prison to serve the remainder of her sentence, she asked Graham to track down her estranged son James. James was last seen in the village as a child in 1999, when Kim went on the run and left with him in a helicopter.

It seems highly likely that we'll be seeing the all-grown-up James arrive soon enough, allowing us to see a softer side to Kim. Could James have inherited his mum's evil gene, or will he be the good influence she desperately needs when they inevitably start living in the big house together?

2. A big feud with Faith Dingle

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Remind us not to get in Faith Dingle's bad books. She literally took one look at Kim and all the trouble she was causing, before deciding that throwing her from an upstairs balcony was the best way to deal with the situation. With gangster granny proving her mettle, maybe Cain can take early retirement from kidnapping people?

Fortunately for the Dingles, Kim doesn't know who pushed her at the moment – but as always in Soapland, it'll only be a matter of time before she finds out who was responsible. Claire King and Sally Dexter, who play Kim and Faith, have already been pondering the likely consequences.

Speaking about whether Faith needs to watch out, Claire teased: "Oh definitely! I don't think Kim would be leaving it like that, do you?"

Sally added: "There could be a good old Dallas hair-tugging. I'd be up for that."

3. Joe's death fallout

ITV

Most of our attention since Joe's death has been focused on Cain and Graham's respective roles in the tragedy, but let's not forget that Kim was the one who ordered for him to be murdered. If we accept that Graham had to finish off the job after Cain left Joe seriously injured, it's possible that the suave Mr Tate would have survived if it hadn't been for Kim and her dark demands.

Joe's exit will cast a shadow over the village for months to come, but how easy will it be for Kim to keep her involvement in the crime under wraps? Does she feel any guilt? And is there any chance Joe isn't as dead as she thinks?

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4. Drama with Debbie

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Although Debbie bitterly blames Joe for his disappearing act on the day of their wedding, she also knows that Kim played a major role in her recent heartbreak. Debbie has bigger issues to worry about right now – Sarah's operation and her own legal predicament – but we predict there'll be no love lost between her and Kim when they next come face-to-face.

Debs will soon be told that she could face five years behind bars for her role in Ross Barton's acid attack, so perhaps she'll even end up sharing a cell with Kim before too long. It's official soap law that friends, neighbours and bitter enemies always have to be paired up together behind bars, right?

5. Romance with Graham… or revenge?

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Amid the various hard-to-follow backstory we heard last week was the revelation that Kim and Graham share a romantic history. Graham is head-over-heels in love with Kim (so much for that Megan storyline) and will seemingly follow her every order.

Claire King and Andrew Scarborough have both teased that there's more to come for this on-screen partnership next year. We can't quite see it catching on – the ship name is #Grim, after all – but let's see how it plays out.

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Despite the actors involved teasing this as love story of the century, we couldn't help but notice that Graham actually seemed vaguely irritated by Kim in most of their scenes. Now that she's forced him to bin his bromance with Joe, could Graham be playing the long game before taking his revenge against Kim? Now that we do like the sound of.

6. Charity vs Kim

ITV

The claws were also out between Charity and Kim last week. This made poor Charity the early prime suspect in the 'Who Pushed Kim?' case, before Vanessa cleared her name with a false alibi. With Kim still oblivious to who did shove her from a great height, it'll be interesting to see whether she still suspects Charity regardless of Vanessa's dubious cover story.

Fiercely loyal to her daughter Debbie, it seems very unlikely that Charity will ever be friends with Kim, but they do have more in common than they think. Imagine how worried the villagers would be if they teamed up one day?

Claire teased recently: "Kim has got her work cut out with the Dingles now. There are some tough women in that family. I wonder whether she'd have respect for Charity, because she sees a bit of herself in her. Both have had Chris Tate as an enemy. Who knows?"

7. Kim's horrible hitman

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Kim may have been locked up for God-knows-how-long (they were quite vague on the details, weren't they?), but apparently she's still got a handy hitman on speed dial who's at her beck and call. When Graham was hesitant to get rid of Joe, no-nonsense Kim warned that she'd contact a guy called Vincent to do the job instead.

Vincent is apparently a sadist who tortures his victims before killing them, so he sounds like a right barrel of laughs. In her press interviews, Claire has already teased that Vincent could put in an appearance one day. He may want to lay off the torture though, just to avoid any Ofcom complaints.

8. Kim's interest in Frank and Dr Cavanagh

ITV

When Kim celebrated her reappearance at Home Farm with most of the villagers in attendance, she seemed more intrigued by some of them than others. While she had no time for the likes of Brenda, Nicola and Kerry, she did have her eye on Frank and Dr Cavanagh, asking Graham to tell her more about them.

As a retired conman, Frank would certainly have a few things in common with Kim, although whether she could deal with another "Frank" in her life is another matter.

Having Dr Cavanagh as a friend or lover would also be pretty shrewd on Kim's part. Living in Home Farm carries a high risk of being attacked or kidnapped by enemies or other random opportunists, so at least there'd always be a medic on standby.

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9. Kim vs the village

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Emmerdale's residents may have spent most of last week slagging off Kim, but the reality of the situation is that she owns several properties in the area, so they'd be wise to stay in her good books. Kim has already jokingly threatened to repossess Kerry's house (with typical Soapland disregard to any rules or procedure) and we reckon it's only a matter of time before she's putting the other villagers in their place too.

Joe Tate may have been a nightmare landlord for some, but 'better the devil you know' and all that. As she mentioned herself last week, they'll quickly learn with Kim that her bite is even worse than her bark…

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7pm on ITV, with an extra episode at 8pm on Thursdays.

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